What are some common career development goals you can help clients achieve?

I primarily work with faculty women who want to get tenure, move up the academic ranks, and/or garner a leadership position. Many women assume they must give up certain life and/or personal desires to achieve these goals. I empower women to achieve their career goals without sacrificing their personal relationships, health, or wealth. We work together to identify their individual strengths, strategize how to leverage them, and minimize identified weaknesses through habit change, increasing knowledge and skills, and altering limiting beliefs. Although the work is grounded in certain principles, there are no set rules or standards. My personalized approach requires me to use our early time to get to know their values, beliefs, and passions.

Sometimes, the best way to advance in your career is to spend a little more time in your current role. Even if you’ve nearly mastered your job, see what other opportunities the role could afford you. Could you better utilize training and mentorship opportunities or chances to attend events relevant to your future goals? Do you have access to senior management or the ability to solidify your position as a thought leader in an area of expertise? Don’t leave any value on the table. You should also use your time to train for the job you’re ultimately aiming for ahead of time so that once you get it, you’re already set up for success. Change is good, but don’t rush. Plan well so you’re ready to make a move when the time is right.

We were all born a blank slate and as we develop we begin to write different characteristics on that slate. Our environment helps to shape our characteristics which include resilience and confidence, however, many of us struggle with confidence and resilience. These are two soft skill muscles that can be developed with the right support. Confidence and resilience building is an on-going lifelong process. As a life purpose and career coach who help women in mid-and upper-level management overcome self-doubt so they can land their dream career, one of the pillars that we work through in coaching is mindset which leads to confidence boosting which helps to cultivate a mindset of growth and self-kindness.

Work-life balance term is so common now in the public space, that it has almost lost its depth. It should not be about finding a way to take more time and energy from work to have enough for life, but rather how to fit work into life to make the life more meaningful, fulfilling, and richer (also literally). The coach can help a person to first discover their values, check what brings them joy in life, and how they see their purpose. A plan to align ones life with these requirements should take the work into consideration, but not the other way around. PS I sadly know that not everyone may have a luxury of choosing a fulfilling job, or cannot delegate the tasks further, because they are at the end of the delegation line.

One of the things I have found is that quiet a few "professionals" take on the brand of their company but never seem to learn how to build their personal brand. I was guilty of this for a long time. I didn't start taking my personal brand seriously until I got into understanding personal development. Learning to effectively define your own vision, mission and values will help to boost your confidence because you are now able to showcase you from an authentic perspective. Creating a personal brand also helps women in mid-and upper-level management to create power words that aligns with who they are and what they want to be known for. Your personal brand part of your legacy building as you continue to develop and acquire new career skills.